The Chatsworth, Calif.-based credit union retained $120.5 million in participation loans at the end of the year, down from $147.4 million in December 2010, according to Telesis’ December 2011 NCUA Call Report.

Some have speculated that the $318 million Telesis may have overextended its business lending efforts and that reach, which included out-of-state deals, may have led to the credit union being placed into conservatorship Friday by the California Department of Financial Institutions. The NCUA was named Telesis’ conservator.

The amount of participation loans Telesis sold between December 2010 and December 2011 fluctuated all over the place. In December 2010, the credit union sold $26 million year to date, compared to a mere $5 million four months later in March 2011. That June, Telesis sold $19.8 million, $20 million in September and $29 million December 2011.

Telesis, however, had not sold or purchased any loans in full from financial institutions or other sources since at least December 2010, according to NCUA data.

In early fall 2011, Telesis addressed reports about its safety and soundness particularly after Bauer Financial, a financial institution ratings and research firm, gave the credit union zero stars based on its status as of June 2011.

Without naming Bauer or any other ratings firm, Telesis addressed the concern on its website.

“While there are a few websites that assign ratings to banks and credit unions, it's important to keep in mind that these websites often only look at a narrow range of numbers that may not accurately reflect the overall situation at Telesis or our performance in relation to other credit unions of our size and region,” Telesis wrote. “As one site itself states, it uses ‘conservative measures’ when assigning these ratings and consequently the ratios will often be lower than those supplied by other analysts or the institutions themselves.”

When contacted earlier Monday by Credit Union Times, NCUA Public Affairs Specialist John Zimmerman said the agency would respond to several follow-up questions regarding Telesis including the future of its stakes in several CUSOs including those that are wholly owned.